{"id":142,"date":"2017-07-03T06:04:57","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T06:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/?p=142"},"modified":"2017-09-18T14:02:32","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T14:02:32","slug":"rallying-the-troops-versus-quieting-the-indignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/rallying-the-troops-versus-quieting-the-indignation\/","title":{"rendered":"Rallying the troops versus quieting the indignation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new National Rifle Association (NRA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/world\/2017\/06\/29\/this-apocalyptic-nra-ad-is-being-slammed-as-a-whisper-shy-of-a-call-for-full-civil-war.html\" target=\"_blank\">video advertisement<\/a> in the United States sparked controversy this week. Critics indicated that the emotive ad barely falls short of calling for violent action against liberals, while further diminishing the potential for productive dialogue between left-wing and right-wing advocates.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The emotive ad reminded me of a couple of articles I have come across in the past few years.\u00a0 One of these articles follows up decades of research in different areas of psychology, all of which point to a tendency for our mental processes to create coherence in our feelings and beliefs (Simon, Stenstrom, &amp; Read, 2015).\u00a0Over a series of experiments, the authors highlighted how emotional attachments to an individual create biased beliefs about the person even when there is no direct logical connection between the basis for the sympathy and the biased beliefs.\u00a0 For instance, learning that a person has lost a loved one in a car accident can lead to sympathy toward the person, resulting in greater reluctance to believe that the person cheated in an irrelevant situation. The authors argued that we can now explain this type of biased reasoning using sophisticated mathematical models of cognitive networks that drive people to seek coherence.<\/p>\n<p>The other article re-examines decades of evidence suggesting that people who are open-minded in personality and values are more likely to be tolerant of other groups (Brandt, Chambers, Crawford, Wetherell, &amp; Reyna, 2015). The authors wondered whether this effect might actually be driven by a tendency of researchers to focus on unconventional or unusual groups, which might by definition be more similar to the people who are characteristically open-minded (e.g., sexual minorities).\u00a0If this is the case, then high open-mindedness might predict more intolerance of relatively conventional groups (e.g., business people), and people relatively low in open-mindedness might actually be more tolerant of the conventional groups. The authors and predicted and found this pattern, which suggests that everyone can be intolerant of people with worldviews that conflict with their own, regardless of where they stand on the personality dimension of open-mindedness.<\/p>\n<p>Taken together, these articles paint a bleak picture. Our cognitive architecture may drive us to seek coherent explanations in line with our feelings, and open-minded personalities are not invulnerable to this effect. Powerful psychological forces create a mental wedge between us others who have different worldviews.<\/p>\n<p>The first step to combating these forces is to recognize their existence. By recognizing that we are all vulnerable to their impact, we can take steps to actively seek out evidence for our own biases and to humbly correct them when we can.\u00a0This activity is not something easily accomplished on one\u2019s own, but perhaps anything is possible in a supportive social atmosphere, with individuals who accept each other\u2019s strengths and limitations in an adult manner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brandt, M. J., Chambers, J. R., Crawford, J. T., Wetherell, G., &amp; Reyna, C. (2015). Bounded Openness\u202f: The Effect of Openness to Experience on Intolerance Is Moderated by Target Group Conventionality. <em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology<\/em>, <em>109<\/em>(3), 549\u2013568.<\/p>\n<p>Simon, D., Stenstrom, D. M., &amp; Read, S. J. (2015). The coherence effect\u202f: Blending cold and hot cognitions. <em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology<\/em>, <em>109<\/em>(3), 369\u2013394.<\/p>\n<p>Image by ExxePhoto licensed under CCO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new National Rifle Association (NRA) video advertisement in the United States sparked controversy this week. Critics indicated that the emotive ad barely falls short of calling for violent action [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1335,"featured_media":144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Rallying the troops versus quieting the indignation","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[52,53,49,50,7,51,54],"custom_author":[82],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-for-debate","tag-national-rifle-association","tag-nra","tag-open-mindedness","tag-personality","tag-politics","tag-psychology","tag-tolerance","custom_author-maio-gregory"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8KPlM-2i","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2113,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/values-and-virtues-in-philosophy-and-psychology\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":0},"title":"Values and Virtues in Philosophy and Psychology","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"September 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"During the recent general election campaign in the UK, I received a flyer through my door from a local independent candidate who claimed to value, among other things, humanitarianism. He also wanted to repurpose the entirety of the UK\u2019s foreign aid budget to fix potholes on Britain\u2019s apparently neglected roads.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Open for Debate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Puddle on the ground reflecting a plane in the sky","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/09\/mirror.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":445,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/group-membership-moral-criticism-and-self-affirmation\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":1},"title":"Group membership, moral criticism and self-affirmation","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"May 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Public debates often involve issues that people find distressing, especially if they involve accusations of moral wrongdoing (even in the past) by groups with whom one identifies.\u00a0 People want to avoid guilt \u2018by association\u2019 and maintain a general belief that they are good, rational, and moral creatures. Avoiding such feelings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Open for Debate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/05\/black-and-white-bridge-dancing-70402.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/05\/black-and-white-bridge-dancing-70402.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/05\/black-and-white-bridge-dancing-70402.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/05\/black-and-white-bridge-dancing-70402.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/05\/black-and-white-bridge-dancing-70402.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2018\/05\/black-and-white-bridge-dancing-70402.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":808,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/am-i-humble-are-you-humble\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":2},"title":"Am I Humble? Are You Humble?","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"December 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0If one were to boil the concept of civil public discourse down into a single idea, it may be this: avoid ad hominems. Ideas should be debated, scrutinized, and questioned, but the people making these arguments should be listened to honestly, respected, and treated with dignity. But is it possible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Open for Debate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/12\/hermitcrabassessment.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/12\/hermitcrabassessment.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/12\/hermitcrabassessment.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/12\/hermitcrabassessment.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":492,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/identifying-core-psychological-processes-with-neuroimaging-experiments-to-improve-education-in-practice\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":3},"title":"Identifying Core Psychological Processes with Neuroimaging Experiments to Improve Education in Practice","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"August 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Following my previous post\u00a0for this blog, in this post I discuss why examining psychological processes related to teaching and learning can provide useful insights about how to improve education. Many educators might think that they have their own tacit knowledge about how to make their classroom activities effective and that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Open for Debate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":584,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/public-debates-testing-your-intellectual-abilities\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":4},"title":"Public Debates \u2013 Testing your Intellectual Abilities?","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"January 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Engaging in public debate can be a scary thing.\u00a0 You make yourself vulnerable to criticism when you express your views in public \u2013 risking a critique not only of the specific beliefs you endorse, but also of your intellectual abilities more broadly.\u00a0 How might you respond to such critiques?\u00a0 Are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Open for Debate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/01\/hands-220163_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/01\/hands-220163_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/01\/hands-220163_1280.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/01\/hands-220163_1280.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/01\/hands-220163_1280.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":499,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/applying-findings-from-neuroscience-to-education-in-practice-and-educational-policy-making\/","url_meta":{"origin":142,"position":5},"title":"Applying Findings from Neuroscience to Education in Practice and Educational Policy-Making","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"September 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In this blog post, the last post of my post series, I intend to outline, by means of concrete examples, how findings from neuroscience can contribute practically to the improvement of education. 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